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'They should rot in jail'
17/08/2007 09:41 - (SA)
Pretoria - Protesters from the Khulumani Support Group and AfriForum gathered opposite the Pretoria High Court on Friday ahead of the appearance of apartheid-era law and order minister Adriaan Vlok, police chief Johan van der Merwe and three former policemen on attempted murder charges.
Khulumani supporters chanted and held up placards saying "We demand closure. We demand transparency" and "Truth shall set you free".
One carried a placard with the face of former president FW de Klerk which read "walked out of the TRC (Truth and Reconciliation Commission), selective memory denialist, noble peace laureate?"
Khulumani advocacy co-ordinator Tshepo Madlingozi said the De Klerk poster was there to remind the public that "not only foot soldiers should be prosecuted". He said people should remember De Klerk shunned the TRC.
Madlingozi said Khulumani was protesting against the guidelines under which Vlok, Van der Merwe and others were being prosecuted.
"We are of the opinion this gives them a second chance at amnesty. Prosecution happens behind closed doors and without taking action."
The group would also launch a charter of redress to emphasise what still needed to be done for victims of apartheid.
Protester Lenning Makhiwane said: "Of course they should go to jail. They should rot in jail."
AfriForum supporters began sticking up gruesome pictures of the aftermath of bombings in the 1980s which they said were carried out by the African National Congress's (ANC) armed wing Umkhonto we Sizwe.
The groups also held posters saying "ANC leaders are not above the law" and "TRC also found ANC guilty of gross human rights violations".
This was in support of their campaign to have ANC leaders prosecuted for their resistance activities during the anti-apartheid struggle.
- SAPA
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